The present invention relates to a closure device for placement in a doorway and, in particular, to a gate which may be frictionally engaged within a doorway for preventing small children or pets from passing through the doorway.
In environments where small children, infants or pets are present, it is generally desirable to have a closure device or gate which may be removably placed within a doorway to prevent passage therethrough. For example, it may be desirable to restrict small children to a particular room without shutting the door to the room such that one can look into the room or the children can see an adult nearby. Alternatively, it is often desirable to have a gate which may be conveniently placed at the top of stairs where a door is not available whereby children are prevented from access to the stairs.
Various prior art gate devices have been proposed wherein the gate may be removably mounted within a doorway and which typically include means for adjusting the width of the gate to accommodate different doorway widths. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,492,263 to Gebhardt discloses an infant security door gate assembly which includes upper and lower support bars incorporating coil springs positioned within telescoping tubes to form a compression friction fit within the doorway. In addition, the gate is formed of a pair of complementary panels which follow the telescoping expansion and contraction of the support bars.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,117 to Gebhardt et al discloses another construction for a security gate including a pair of overlapping panels which may be adjusted relative to each other to provide a general width adjustment for the gate to be positioned in close proximity to the sides of the doorway. A mechanism is provided along the edge of one of the panels including a foot operated actuator for moving a pair of edge blocks outwardly from the edge of the panel to frictionally engage the side of the doorway.
While the above-described gates are satisfactory for preventing passage of a small child, infant or pet through the doorway, such gates have occasionally proved to be inconvenient when the doorway must be temporarily opened to allow passage therethrough, such as when an adult desires to pass into or out of a room for which the gate is acting as a closure device. In order to pass through the doorway, the adult must first release the mechanism attaching the gate to the doorway and pivot the gate out of the way, and subsequently reinstall the gate within the doorway, which can prove to be inconvenient and time consuming.
In a further prior art gate which attempts to address the above-described difficulties, a mounting frame is provided for the gate including two vertically extending sections for engaging opposing sides of a doorway. A pair of panels is provided between the frame sections wherein one panel is rigidly attached to the frame and a second panel is pivotally connected to the first panel and includes a release latch for engaging one of the vertical sections to maintain the gate in a closed position. Thus, the frame portion may be positioned in frictional contact with the sides of a doorway and the pivoted section may be opened and closed as needed to allow passage through the doorway.
One problem with the latter described security gate is that a toddler may easily learn how to manipulate the safety release latch to open the gate such that the gate is limited in its applications to use with infants and pets.
Accordingly, there is a need for a safety gate for use as a closure within a doorway which is easily adjustable to the doorway and which permits easy passage for an adult through the doorway.
In addition, a safety gate is needed which may be used with infants, toddlers and pets and which may be easily opened to allow passage therethrough while providing a secure locking system which cannot be actuated by a toddler.